Oil Temps. How cold is to cold?

[hooligan24]

Engine: Dodge 2.4L Turbo Charged 4 Cylinder
Coolant temps: 195-212degrees
oil pressure: 25psi at idle, 35psi at 3000 rpm
Oil used: AMSOIL Signature Series - 5 quart sump

The turbo is oil/coolant cooled and there is an oil cooler that has coolant lines going to it also.

I just installed an oil temperature qauge today, and the sensor is in the oil pan. I went for a 20 mile cruise down the freeway at 70mph just get a reading, which was 190-195 degrees. I then went for a short "spirited" run up in the hills to see how fast it would rise. in less than 3 miles I had it to around 210 degrees and it pretty much stayed there. I didnt push it too hard because it started to rain.

My question is, how cold is too cold for oil temps? I would also like to know what temps would be to high for when I hit the roadcourse?

how would changing oil weights affect oil temps?

If you need anymore info, let me know.

 

[LargeCarManX2]

Your oil temp should range about the same as your coolant temp. I would say 150ish is too low and 250ish is too high.

 

[Gary in Sandy Eggo]

First, the oil does not heat up as fast as the coolant temperature gauge would imply. It takes about 20 min or 20 miles to get the oil to full operating temperature (that's what a lot of anecdotal information indicates). Following that, it takes several miles of operation to drive off the moisture.

180F is the lowest you'd like your oil to operate at. Anything less, and wear increases as a result of moisture buildup in the oil. Someone else stated 250F is getting too high. Most oils will withstand that temperature, but the life of the oil will be shortened due to increased oxidation.

 

[XPR]

SSO should flow at -60F

 

[wwillson]

Use this viscosity calculator VI Calc and see for yourself just how thick your oil is at different temperatures - I think you be surprised.

Wayne

 

[hooligan24]

looks like at 195 degrees, the oil is in the high 12's if I did everything right. is that a good or bad thing? most of this stuff is foreign language to me. I was planning on switching to redline 10w40 soon, but with the same temps and the different vis, it would be in the high 18's.


where would be a good # to be at?

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
First, the oil does not heat up as fast as the coolant temperature gauge would imply. It takes about 20 min or 20 miles to get the oil to full operating temperature (that's what a lot of anecdotal information indicates). Following that, it takes several miles of operation to drive off the moisture.


His engine is exchanged. He's probably at normalized temps (195F in his case - or so it appears) around 9 miles.

 

[hooligan24]

So 195 degrees isnt too cold to keep the oil clean and free from fuel and moisture?

 

[hooligan24]

bumping this up....

I recently switched to Red Line Oil and I have noticed that oil temps get up to operating temps much quicker than before. The temps are still at the same 195F, it just gets there about 5 minutes quicker in the mornings.

Another question I need an answer for, but cant seem to find in over 3 hours of searching......

During track/roadcourse use, how high would be too high for oil temps? when should I be concerned?

 

[johnd]

Idiot lights for over temperature used to be set to go on at 245Deg. F. The reasoning was that for conventional oils back in those days, 250 was getting close to the smoke point of the oil which is to be avoided. Even in competition situations, I would not want to see oil temps for non-synthetic oils exceed 225 Deg to give a safe margin. I have a water to oil cooler on my car and for a while I had a temp gage on the oil. I noticed in the summer that oil and water temps would be about the same and, esp. in traffic, oil would gradually to climb to 212-215 when water temp remained about 210. I felt like this represented a pretty good control on things.

 

[steve20]

My 95 Corvette has digital coolant and oil temp gauges. These cars are hot runners due to emission reqs: the rad fans are programmed to come on at 227 and secondary on at 236. Consequently oil temps run high as well. Normally I would expect to see an oil temp of 210 to 245. Car is designed to run on synthetic oil so we are still in the safety range

 

[hooligan24]

So I am safe to push the oil up to 245ish, or would the limit be higher than that?

after pushing the motor hard earlier today, I got the oil up to around 220F, so I am expecting higher than 245 at the track.

Another note about the redline 10w40: idle oil pressure is still the same 25psi, but at 3000 rpm's it is at 49-50psi where-as it was around 35psi at the most(even at 6k rpms) with the SSO

 

[mechtech2]

You oil temps are great!
You don't need to actually have the oil at the boiling point of water to eliminate condensation from it. It will evaporate quickly at 150F and above.
Apart from water control, it doesn't matter what temp the oil is at. It is the viscosity that matters.
Well, OK, there may be additives that are heat activated.
Thin oil cools better than thick. I notice hotter oil temps on the highway with thicker oils, at eh same speeds.

 

[BarkerMan]

On the dyno Red Line appears to transfer heat from the engine out to a heat exchanger more efficiently then many other oils. When we make a strong pull the temp comes up just a little quicker and the highest temps hit are just a bit lower. Not big differences but consistent from one engine to another. The pattern is there. It is also a bit more pronounced on air cooled engines. I have no idea why but it must be something to do with the base stocks.